Laura Rowley Money & Happiness

SheriW - Sunday, August 9, 2009, 2:09PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

The best way to deal with checks is not to write them; use your debit card, and pay for money orders. Also keep you account in the black by at least $20 to $50 to cover any charges such as using your debit card as credit that could throw your bank account into the red without realizing it

CT - Sunday, August 9, 2009, 1:20PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

I have a crazy and ridiculous idea: how about customers of banks DONT BREAK THE RULES and take some freaking personal accountability!?!?!? It isn't the bank's fault you overdraft your account, it is yours. To point the finger at those mean banks for charging a fee for someone overdrafting their account is just plain stupid. Guess what I was charged for overdrafts last year? Zero. I guess I am just more responsible than many, since the popular thing to do is the clam the banks. Take some accountability you wimps...or just point the finger which has become par for the course these days.

Pamela - Sunday, August 9, 2009, 12:55PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

For the life of me, I had NO idea that banks were allowed to do this at the expense of the consumer. I once had an overdraft fee on 10 cents. Really something. THANK you for this article. I just printed it out. A way around this overdraft thing is to have a savings account and have your debit card linked to that instead of checking. That way you have NO overdraft fees for withdrawals because the account doesn't pay the bills. I transfer in only what I need to my checking and never touch it for withdrawals.

gilbert b - Sunday, August 9, 2009, 12:31PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

It's 50/50 folks, people need to be more responsible with their money/acounts......but on the other hand, the banks should be more fair with how and when these fees should actually be applied and work more with their customers on how to avoid future incidents. I had over 700 dollars in overdraft fees last year...that's crazy! But I only have myself to blame, but the banks do have it set up to get the maximum out of your account for when you overdraft, and that's where the customer and the bank need to compromise on how to FAIRLY sort it out. Who knows.....I don't have all the answers, if I did, I wouldn't be in debt.

Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, August 9, 2009, 12:09PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

I've been hit by BOA overdraft charges by manipulation of the order of debit receipts -I was charged 140.00 OD fees in two days!! I called a CSR who agreed to credit my account; but it never happened. After many conversations, the bank won! I'm very angry with Bank of America!!!!

Sara - Sunday, May 10, 2009, 9:28PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

The banks are thieves.

bonnie - Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 2:53PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

Maybe people should stop playing the blame game. Its not the banks fault, your spending more money then you have. Just like any other business they are in it to make money! Yes the fee's are way to high,but thats because people are doing it so often!! If it were our business we would do the same.

Lawrence - Saturday, October 27, 2007, 12:47AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

I agree that consumers should take responsibility for their accounts. I'm learning this lesson now. However, the tactics that the banks are using to increase their "pocketbooks" are shameful. They're just exploiting struggling and poor people. Also, remember our constitution does protect us from excessive punishment when we break the law. I think this rule should apply to bank customers. We should be able to be charged fair fees if our accounts are occasionally overwithdrawn. I can't wait when our legislators pass laws to stop these abusive banking "fees."

Been Screwed - Sunday, September 16, 2007, 2:18PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Bank of America is the number one Loan Shark in this country! There are many more of them but BofA is the absolute worse! I can't wait to watch them go bankrupt! They are the scum of the banking world! Higher Standard of Loan Sharking! I finally figured it out! Change to a real local bank! You are far better off. all of the big banks just want to make every possible dollar off of you!

Joe - Saturday, September 15, 2007, 11:26AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Overdraft protection is just another term for bounced check charge. Rather than have some business collect a bounced check charge from you, the bank wants to score the bonus. Pay the merchant or pay the bank, it's all the same to the account holder other than any hard feelings on part of the check holder. Other comment had it right, get a credit card and avoid all the headache of tracking each dollar on every transaction. It's just too easy to run in and purchase something at a convenience/gas store with a debit card and then forget to record it before driving off. Most credit cards have online site where you can check later and those are usually better updated than the bank's debit account sites. It's your money, keep Shyster's hand outa your pocket.

gbhsgbhs - Saturday, September 15, 2007, 11:15AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Easiest legislative solution is to limit banks to one overdraft charge per day per account no matter how many separate charges come in that day since they are all just one cumulative overdraft for that day. It won't help those with checks coming in across several days, but it will cut out the most egregious abuse of this practice.

Johnny B. - Saturday, September 15, 2007, 11:08AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Use a CC, pay it each month, problem's resolved. I'm amazed people bother themselves with "debit cards" which are so much less, even if they have overdraft protection. Get a CC.

Bailey Woots - Wednesday, August 15, 2007, 2:10PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Using a debit or check card is a convenient way to make everyday purchases. It eliminates the need to carry extra cash or take the time to write a check. Although the methods of accessing your funds have changed over the past 10 years, the responsibility of keeping track of your account has not. Creating a habit of writing down every debit and credit transaction on your account and doing simple math to keep your available balance apparent to you has always been the consumers responsibility. Furthermore, an overdraft charge is not a finance charge. It is a fee. A fee the bank collects on a persons account when they have to put up the funds to cover the charges initiated by the account owner that exceed the available balance in the account. What the consumer must understand is that by writing a check,punching in your pin number and swiping your checkcard they are entering into a binding contract with the vendor to pay for the goods and services that are rendered to them. If the bank were to stop all of the transactions in your account that were going to put you in a negative balance, then they would be denying the initiating party their rightful payment. Most banks will credit deposits to your accounts before taking out the debits. Debits typically clear your account starting from the largest first then down. This way banks can insure the payment is made with the available funds in the account, reducing the potential for loss on the bank side. Believe it or not banks are businesses too. They are not a never ending pit of money. When a bank covers charges for a customer and the customer refuses to pay the bank back the bank loses not only the money they fronted to the customer, but the money that is generated from the od fees. All of this talk about banks having to let a customer know what their balance is at all times is crap. A bank cannot tell if you have three outstanding checks. A bank does not get immediate notification as soon as your checkcard is swiped through a zon machine. The only time a bank knows for sure that money has left your account is when you come inside the bank and cash a check off your account as a withdrawal, or if you use your pin number to initiate a debit. Those are automatic. Everything else takes time. Checks can take up to 6 months to clear. Checkcard transactions can take up to 10 days, based on when the credit card machine is cleared and charges are sent to the appropriate sources for redemption. YOU as the consumer have the ability to know EXACTLY what your balance is. YOU can write down every check you write or transaction you swipe your card for. YOU can use on line banking as a tool to reconcile your account. YOU should be smart enough to not believe everything you see and use common sense. If i checked my account balance right now i am willing to bet that i would not be able to see the 17.49 i spent at lunch, BUT if i check my account register, where I logged said transaction, I would be able to see what my available balance is. Basically what it boils down to is lazy, irresponsible and spoiled Americans who expect everything to be done for them and take no accountability for their actions. It's your money for pete's sake. Keep better track of it and you won't be wasting it on overdraft fees. Curb your spending, get budget counseling, resist the temptation to buy things out of your realm of affordability, and don't write checks your ass can't cash.

Mark - Wednesday, August 8, 2007, 10:06PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

The evildoers at Compass bank conspired to charge my college student son overdraft fees twice each on two inadvertent overdrafts (caused by a delay in crediting a deposits) because he had the misfortune to swipe his debit card on the weekend. They charged him when he made the initial transactions and then again on monday when the transactions "cleared", which led to the classic second round of overdrafts. Even worse, there is no cost or time effective route to appeal $300 in fee abuse. Banks engaging in abusive behavior deserve to be the subject of corrective legislation.

jf8201 - Friday, August 3, 2007, 7:40PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

I realize that a customer should take responsibility for their accounts. HOWEVER, that does not mean that bank practices are necessarily fair. I've seen claims that the "largest ones are usually most important." I'm sorry, but that's a value judgment that the bank simply cannot make for me as they do not know what I value or the relationships I have with those I have paid. While my rent may be important, I know that, because I have a habit of being on time and a good relationship with them, they will be lenient and give me a call about it first. However, my credit card, a much smaller payment, will not. On the other hand, others might be in a reverse situation, but it is not the banks place to decide which. In fact, it would be much more fair for the bank to simply total the amount at the end of the day and base the fees on how much you have gone over in total. (Wow! foreign concept, eh?) At one point, I would have understood the need for a per transaction based fee as they had to pay people to manually process each transaction, but since a computer is the one actually doing the computing and it's not getting paid, why does the bank care if the computer is wasting milliseconds on processing those transactions? In addition, it's not always the customer's fault. I am in the process of changing banks due to an issue with OD charges. It was a payment I had scheduled online (and as an IT worker, I think I know how to use a computer), but the payment came out of the wrong checking account. As I use the online site to reconcile my bankbook every few weeks, I've gotten in the habit of forgetting to open mail from them, and as they feel the need to send an letter for each account and can't seem to reconcile them into one envelope per month (can we say "Let's waste money on postage?") I didn't notice one extra letter from them. It wasn't until I got a call about my rent bouncing (one of 2 payments made from that account), I immediately tried to sort everything out and saw that the account that had been charged was the one with less than a dollar (had been like that for some time) and not the one with over $1800 in it. It wasn't like I didn't have the money, and in fact, I THOUGHT I had $500 overdraft protection that I paid for, but come to find out, it only applied to the one account and I would have to apply for another OD protection account in order to cover both accounts. I am firmly in the belief that it was not my error and there was a computer glitch, data corruption, incorrectly transmitted data, something that when wrong because I have always been a bit paranoid about getting the wrong account and make sure to double check the account as you have to select from a drop down box and those are notoriously easy to unwittingly change. So I try to reason with these people, because they had plenty of my money to cover the funds. They refused to waive the charges. What ticks me off is the fact that they feel the need to charge me to loan me my own money. Further more, this wasn't an electronic transfer, they actually had to print out a check and stick it in the mail. Why on earth couldn't they do something as simple as place a big fat error on the next page that says something like, "You don't have enough money in this account for this, are you SURE you want to do this?" The very fact that they do not attempt to warn you to check to make sure you haven't made a mistake, use a form that it easy to make mistakes, claim infallibility on their computers--something that is impossible, and don't even send off an email when you've gone over to help minimize charges, tells me that banks want to take a much of your money as possible and while it may not be illegal, some of it sure is unethical. Therefore I'm switching to bank that seems to make a lot more sense, especially in this area, and am switching from National City to ING Direct.

Saunders - Thursday, August 2, 2007, 10:27AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Having a bank account is a privilege, not a right. If you want the privilege of having a bank account, you should be responsible enough to handle it properly. If you don't, you should accept the penalty like a responsible adult instead of blaming the bank for your mistake. You would think that Laura would be an advocate of personal responsibility.

JENNIFER C - Monday, July 30, 2007, 4:50PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

Clearly people need to be accountable for their money , but I think this is more of an issue of the poor being taken advantage of. The clearing of checks should minimize overdraft fees, not maximize them. That is robbery. And overdraft fees should be explained when the account is opened. I don't understand why people make such a fuss about payday lenders when the banks are doing this to people. At least with payday loans the consumer knows the terms up front.

*~*FIRE*~* - Monday, July 30, 2007, 4:18PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

I am NOT in favor of the Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act, for several reasons. The main reason would be accountability. There is a reason when an individual signs the master account agreement, that they are given a copy of the account disclosures and regulations, as well as a statement of fees. This new legislation would basically give banking customers more reason not to be accountable. I'm not saying that everyone reads their account rules and regulations, but like my Grannie always told me, you should read before you sign. At any banking institution, you can walk in there and obtain a copy of their rules and regulations. There are a number of banks that have toll free numbers to ask questions. You can even stop in at a branch and inquire about accounts and how they function. Online banking, telephone automated systems, and yes the toll free numbers are in place as tools to assist customers in maintaining an accurate balance on their accounts. I whole heartedly agree with Page, knowledge IS POWER. So, in general people should be learning from their mistakes, instead of using ignorance as an excuse. If you are not in the know about how your own account functions, that does NOT exhaust your responsibility and account ability. And regardless of how a bank decides to post transactions that come in to be collected. If check registers are accurately kept, the overdrafts can be avoided. If the money is already accounted for, no matter when the merchant decides they're going to call that debit in there won't be a surprise. I think the real problem is that we're not preparing our youth for the real world. Class in elementary school as well as in high school should be implimented so that our childeren have an understanding of the value of a dollar and how money works.

Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 30, 2007, 4:11PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

The root cause of overdrafts are consumers who do not take the (small amount of) time to know what they have before spending. We have a *spending crisis* in this country, both in our personal finances and governmentally. Consumers have the responsibility to stop spending more than they make. If I make X dollars a week but spend X plus one cent a week, I have a problem. The fault does not lie with the evil, manupulative bank.

john - Monday, July 30, 2007, 2:01PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

I HAVE FELT FOR SOME TIME NOW THAT INSTEAD OF JESSE JAMES OUTSIDE THE BANK ROBBING THEM HE IS NOW INSIDE WORKING. I CANCEL MY CHECKING ACCOUNT THAT I HAD FOR 42 YEARS AFTER THIS SCAM FIRST CAME OUT. PITIFUL WHAT SOME PEOPL WILL SO TO SCAM THE PUBLIC . THANKS FOR READING THIS = JOHN

Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 30, 2007, 1:52PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

mjduncan is right on. Nowhere in the article does Rowley put any of the ownership on the customer that overdrafts the account. I realize that people live paycheck to paycheck. That is why you shouldn't just throw money out the window and get unnecessary fees by spending money you don't have. Don't depend on the recepient of the check to hopefully not deposit it right away---don't write a check on funds you don't have. The bank is covering the transaction, thus the fee. I do think $34 is a lot of money--that's why I am very careful to not overdraft my account. Items at my bank post from largest dollar amount to lowest amount. Yes, it is true that in most cases, the bank would get more in overdraft fees by doing it this way, but I would rather have my house payment paid first and not have the item returned unpaid than the coffee I bought at Starbucks with my checkcard. We always work with people in making a determination of whether or not to refund an overdraft. Over 90% of the time, I hear that they don't even use a transaction register---now Rowley is blaming that on the big bad banks?? Instead, we are given a sob story about Page--she received 9 overdrafts in a two day period and "most" were from groceries and medical bills. What were the others from--let's look at all of the spending and analyze if she should have even made the purchases??Page works as a bill collector??? I hope she answers when I call so I can tell her I just don't have the money to pay--it should be Citibanks responsibility becuase they gave me the credit card in the first place....give me a break--this article is a joke.

vid - Monday, July 30, 2007, 1:35PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 2/5

Even with all the excuses that people are posting to the article regarding how unjustify it is for the bank to charge multiple Overdrafts or the fees are too high, it is not going to hide the fact that the problem starts from YOU. -Being poor is not an excuse. ( There are tons of people out there that balance their checkbook and not get charge one Overdraft fee regardless of their income status. If you only have enough to survive why mess it up and let the bank take any of it.) -Not knowing your own balance or computer and telephone not showing the same balance by the bank is not an excuse. ( It's your hard earn money, if you don't care enough to keep track of how much you have then why would anyone else. ) -Bank hold checks deposited but clear checks right away. ( If you know the checks are on hold, why are you still spending it? Work with your bank first to get it released before you spend it and get charge for it.) -Last but not least, bank purposely clear items out of order to maximize the amount of Overdraft charges. ( If you keep a good record of your own money and spend only when you have it then no matter how Banks pay the items you are always covered.) The bottom line is, if you don't want the Banks to take away your hard earn cash then start taking control of it. Instead of making up all these excuses, go back to your bank statement or register and do some calculation. If you do that, you will save yourself a lot of money. If rare Overdraft do happen, talk to your bank and explain what happened rather then going in and start yelling when in fact it's your fault. Most bank will be willing to reverse the fee for you. I know because it happened to me before.

Mary - Monday, July 30, 2007, 12:35PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

I think part of the confusion on this issue is that we are doing the financial equivalent of comparing apples to oranges. Here's why: While many credits and debits to checking accounts are now electronic, there are still a good number of "paper" transactions which clear checking accounts every day. Some "paper checks" clear electronically (if you present the check to someone who doesn't bank with your bank) and some clear "manually" (if you present the check to someone who banks with your bank). These are known as "over the counter" transactions. So, if I write a check to my daughter and she cashes it at, I can't go in on my online account to "see" the check coming through until after it posts. If you go to a merchant and present your debit card for payment of an item, the computer system only knows the balance based on what has been presented as of that time. That check I wrote to my daughter may or may not be included in that, depending on whether it has been presented for payment. Same thing with other checks. The POS terminal only knows what has cleared so far -- it doesn't know anything about that house payment check you sent out three days ago. The article assumes that "the system" actually knows what's in your account at any given time. The truth is that only YOU know what you have because you have the checkbook register. The bank's responsibility is to accurately record the debits and credits going through your account -- we are not responsible to see that there's money there for each transaction you attempt to make. Truly, the key here is to balance your checkbook. If you don't have the money, don't spend it. Overdraft fees are the one completely avoidable charge out there. If fees were lower (or not charged at all), overdrafts would be even more rampant than they are now. As it is, customers are cavalier about their accounts ("Oh, I never keep track -- I just look online every day"). If they aren't going to keep track, I'm not going to apologize for charging them when they overdraw. We do routinely return OD fees to customers who are rarely overdrawn. But once it gets to a few times a year -- it's clear that they are playing the system. It's a rather presumptuous argument to maintain that not only should you be allowed to overdraw your account (spend more than you have) and also be able to do so at no fee, or at a fee which is so low that it's more convenient to overdraw than to keep money in the account. Part of the theory behind overdraft fees, after all, is to discourage overdrafts.

Leather Rose - Monday, July 30, 2007, 8:45AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

I have gotten hit by these practices alot. It is so unfair to those of us who are on a fixed income.Banks are robbing people blind and I am glad the government sees what they are doing. Thank you for trying to help us once again.

One sane person - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 10:20PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

I really think it does bring to light some of the "things" banks do to people to collect additional overdraft fees. What really cracks me up is the check cashing cards don't catch up to your deposits until 24 hours later....even with direct deposits now whats with that?

Sarah L - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 10:03PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

People really need to take responsibility for themselves and their own finances. It is alot easier to put the blame on the bank rather than oneselves but grow up already. It's super simple don't spend more than ya have and if you do don't whine and place blame. Usually if its not common for overdraft to happen for the account the bank would waive the charges, its when it happens over and over again that the bank is not going to reverse fees.

Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 6:41PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Some people do literally live from paycheck to paycheck. I am one of those people. What might be a good thing for you people that are using banks to do is to try comparing what the banks charge for overdraft 'fees'. I am lucky to be with a credit union that, when the occasional overdraft occurs for me, only charges $18. And deposits are available instantly. They are a couple of the reasons i chose this particular financial institution! Like many others have said. You should keep an eye on your spending. KNOW what you have available. And stick within your limits/means. But i do also believe that banks should be more open and honest with their customers.

ChrisT - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 5:19PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Our country has really gotten into the mindset that people shouldn't have to take responsibility for their actions. I do work for a bank, and we do state in our account disclosures about overdraft charges. People will ask "who has the time to read that?" or blatently admit that they did not read their account disclosures and, because of their lack of initiative and lack of educating themselves, their bank is supposed to turn around and feel bad that with the account disclosures, the annual statement of fees, the letters regarding every time a fee is changed as well as every statement they receive having their overdraft limit stated on it, it is not the customer's responsibility to know about that. People will yell because they made a mistake and expect their fees to be waived, swear and threaten their banks and expect these fees to be waived. People have to take ownership of themselves, their actions and their lives. Get educated, and if you refuse to take the information that your bank provides you and taking care of your finances, take responsibility, own up to it. We all make mistakes and sometimes you need to pay for them. That's life.

Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 5:16PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

According to Webster; USURY - " The lending of money at an exorbitant interest rate." I do belive all of the states have laws against such practice. INTEREST or FEE ??? To all of you one & two star nay-sayers, I say, If it looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it is a dam duck. But, I guess that all depends on what is is. Well, one thing is for sure. These fees are usurious and shamefully exorbitant. The lawmakers need to do much more than they are. They need to pass legislation that has sharp teeth. If banks can turn ducks into songbirds, surely our lawmakers can turn fees into interest. However, to do so they would have to ignore the powerful financial lobby that supplies much of the campaign donations that keeps them employed. So don't expect much in the way of laws with teeth. Look for any legislation that passes to be a meager slap on the hand. In the meantime try not to incur any fees and keep one eye on that duck. Errrrrrr, thats not a duck after all. It's a PIG.

Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 1:45PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

It really bothers me, all of the people who are name calling. Calling someone stupid just because they make a mistake. I'm sorry we're not all as PERFECT as you are and never do ANYTHING wrong. First off, before you name call, you should try walking in someone else's shoes. Second of all, it's easy to sit here and say "Oh it's easy, don't spend what you don't have" when you make $200,000/year. Third of all, all it takes is ONE (I'll repeat ONE) mistake and that's the end of it. You make one simple little mistake and bam it's NSF fee after NSF fee. These banks LOOK for a way to get the maximum amount of fees from you. Once you do it ONE time, it's over. I was doing just fine until one day, ONE time, I wrote a check that I completely forgot about and forgot to write it down. I overdrew and then fee after fee after fee. Yes, I should pay the NSF for that check. Yes, I realize that was all my fault. But why do I still have to keep paying for that MONTHS later??? I can't tell you the last time I have gotten a full paycheck. It's hard to keep up with your bills when you can't even get your full paycheck anymore. I made one mistake and I have been paying for it for months now. I would like to close my checking account and do without for just a while until I get caught back up but my employer will ONLY pay through direct deposit. I don't know how to stop this. You cannot get ahead when you can't even get your full paycheck. And I don't WASTE my money. I can't even remember the last time I've bought something frivolous for myself. Some days, I don't even have enough money to EAT after paying bills and buying gas to get to work. Every other Friday when I get paid, I take ALL of my money out of my checking account and just use cash or money orders to pay my bills. It is VERY inconvenient but it is slowly but surely helping me get out of the hole. I think it's a shame that convenience has such a hefty price tag. If you make $100,000/year or more, then all of that automatic online banking crap is right for you. But apparently if you make a NORMAL persons salary, that stuff is a way to weed you out of middle-class and into poverty. I am seeing that now. But I definitely think something should be done about employers who FORCE employees to have checking accounts. If I didn't HAVE to have one, there is no way I would have one. I don't think that is fair at all! But anyway, before you call someone stupid, try walking in their shoes for a while. And if you don't understand that, then you are just the pot calling the kettle black. 'Nuff said.